Musical instrument

ABSTRACT

A hand held sound emitting instrument embodying a sounding shell having a handle formed integrally therewith and a clapper freely hinged to the shell. Back and forth motion of the shell produced by hand yields rotational motion of the clapper with respect to the shell. Such clapper rotation is limited by a stop in a direction substantially away from the shell and by the shell itself in the opposite direction. Sharp contact between the clapper and the shell results in a particular sound emanating from the unit.

United States Patent 1191 Zirimis Jan. 8, 1974 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT [76]Inventor: Demosthenes Zirimis, 25 Croley St., Pnmary Emmmer-LawrenceFranklm Huntington L I. 11743 Att0rneySamuel J. Stoll et al.

[22] Filed: Dec. 8, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl NO" 313,511 A hand heldsound emitting instrument embodying a sounding shell having a handleformed integrally U-S. Cl. th rewith and a clapper freely to the hell [5Int. Cl. Back and forth motion of the shell produced hand of Searchrotational motion of the clapper respect to 84/410; 46/191 the shell.Such clapper rotation is limited by a stop in a direction substantiallyaway from the shell and by References Cited the shell itself in theopposite direction. Sharp contact UNITED STATES PATENTS between theclapper and the shell results in a particu- 90,832 6 1869 Fessenden46/l9l 13f Sound emanating from the Imit- 166,344 8/1875 Crandall 84 4022,386,561 10/1945 Magnuson....; 46/191 4 Clam, 11 Drawmg Flgures MUSICALINSTRUMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Theinvention is in the field of musical instruments, but may also be forchildrens playful use. By careful adjustment of dimensions andproportions of the device of the present invention, a selected sound maybe produced whereby the device may be professionally useful as a musicalinstrument.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior artknown to the applicantconsists of the following five U.S. Pats. wherein two separate piecenoise making devices are shown:

192,999, Hutchings, July 10,1877;

237,850, Fisher, February 15, 1881;

1,982,888, Tsukamoto, AUG. 4, 1934;

2,436,283, Birl, June 14,1945;

2,713,805, Flores, July 26, 1955.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a base member having achannel shaped shell section and a handlesection. An

' elongated clapper is hingedlysecured within the chan- DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top view of the musical instrument of thepresent invention shown in a first embodiment as when the device is madefrom wood or like material. The hinge pin is shown in phantom.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the musical instrument shown in FIG. 1 with aportion shown in phantom. The clapper is in engagement with the shelland contacts the shell along a line contact at the open end ofthechannel.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2, showing the clapper in theposition defined as rotated away from the shell. The clapper has reachedthe limit of its travel in its rotation away from the shell ascontrolled by the contact between the inner end of the clapper and theinner end of the channel.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view across line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view taken across line 5-5of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5A is an enlarged end view of the shell shown in FIG. 2, the viewbeing taken across line 5A-5A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view of second embodiment of the invention wherein themusical instrument is manufactured from plastic or likematerial. Abifurcated hinge pin is shown in phantom.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken across line 77 of FIG. 6. Theclapper is shown to rotate into engagement with the shell.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the musical instrument shown in FIG. 6 with theclapper shown rotated out of engagement with the shell. A portion of thefigure is shown broken away to expose the resilient pad which spring.

urges the clapper back into engagement'with the shell.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawing,and to FIGS. 1-5 in particular, the musical instrument 10 of the presentinvention comprises a shell 12 having a handle portion 14 and a channelportion 16. Shell 12 is generally. a right rectangular cylinder. Thechannel portion 16 of shell 12 is substantially rectangular incross-section and is formed by U-shaped walls of shell 12. Channel 16extends from an open end 18 of shell 12 more than l/2 but less than allthe way to the opposite or handle end 14 of shell 12. Channel 16 tapersto a narrower channel 16a approaching closed end 20 of the channel.

Clapper 22 of musical instrument 10 is a substantially right rectangularcylinder an inner end 24 of which fits into narrow portion 16a ofchannel 16 and extends therefrom throughchannel 16 and out past open end18 of shell 12. Clapper 22 is secured to shell 12 by means of a hingepin 26 located in shell 12 at narrow portion 16a of channel16 andpassing through the inner end 24 of clapper 22. Hinge pin 26 is locatedat right angles to the longitudinal axes of shell 12 and clapper 22 andis parallel to the bottom 28 of channel 16. With respect to clapper 22,hinge pin 26 is located near, but not at, inner end 24. Clapper 22 isaccordingly unbalanced at hinge pin 24, having a substantially largermass toward outer end 25 than toward inner end 24. The clapper ispositioned by hinge pin 26 such that inner end 24 is slightly abovebottom 28 of channel 16. When musical instrument 10 is held in thehorizontal position shown in FIG. 2 with the open channel 16 facingvertically upwardly, clapper 22 rests at a slight downward angle towardits outer end 25, being located by hinge pin 26 and by a line of contactbetween bottom 30 of clapper 22 and the end 32 of bottom 28.

In operation musical instrument 10 is manually gripped at handle 14 andis moved rapidly or shaken in a plane which is substantiallyperpendicular to hinge pin 26. The result of the unbalanced mass ofclapper 22 is that the clapper is forced to rotate about hinge pin 26 asfar as possible within the limits of its travel. The limit of travel inthe outward direction of clapper end 25 from channel 16 is the point atwhich inner end 24 of the clapper strikes bottom 28 of the channel. Thiscondition is shown in FIG. 3. Continued motion of mu sical instrument l0forces a rapid return of the clapper to its next limit of travel whichis the contact between bottom 30 of the clapper and end 32 of shell 12.It is that contact, when occasioned with force, which emits theparticular sound'produced by the instrument The characteristics of thesound emitted are dependent upon the material employed in theconstruction of 'wide and inches high. Channel 16 is approximately asincheswide and inches deep at its wider portion, and extends for itsentire length including narrow portion 16a forapproximately 5% incheslong. Clapper 22 is approximately 7% inches long by k inches'wide by5/16 inches high. Hinge pin 26 is located approximately 3% inches fromhandle end 14 and approximately 7/16 inches from inner end 24 of clapper22. The hinge pin itself is preferably steel.

DESCRIPTION OF A MODIFIED EMBODIMENT The modified embodiment of musicalinstrument 50 is shown in FIGS. 6 10 and is intended primarily for thecase in which the instrument is molded or machined from plastic.Relative dimensions and features of the modified embodiment of themusical instrument are substantially similar to those of the preferredembodiment except that clapper 52 is itself grooved from outer .end 54more than half but not all the way to inner end 56. The channel 58 isformed by substantially U-shaped walls of clapper 54 and is situatedopposite channel 16 such that when channel 16 points upwardly, channel58 points downwardly.

Inner end 56 of clapper 52 is bifurcated and consists of a pair ofparallel arms 60 and 60a. Although a single hinge pin similar to hingepin 26 may be used to pass entirely through both arms 60 and 60a in themodified embodiment it is practical to utilize two shorter coaxial hingepins 62 and 62a. Hinge pin 62 passes from shell 12 through arm 60 andhinge pin 62a passes from the opposite side of shell 12 through arm 60a.

The operation of the modified embodiment is identical to that of thepreferred embodiment.

A further modification of the invention may be seen in FIGS. 6-8 and 10although it may also be utilized in the primary embodiment. Thismodification is the use of a resilient pad 70 located at the innerclosed end 20 of channel 16. Resilient pad 70 has two functions, thefirst of which is to act as a spring bearing against inner end 56 ofclapper 52 thereby rotating the clapper to the position shown in FIG. 7,that is, with the clapper resting on end 32 of shell 12. A secondfunction of resilient pad 70 is to act as a cushion to prevent contactbetween inner end 56 of clapper 52 and'bottom 28 of channel 16, therebypreventing secondary noise from such contact.

While the foregoing is illustrative of preferred and modifiedembodiments of the invention, it is clear that other variations andmodifications may be had. For example, a leaf or coil spring may beutilized in the place and stead of resilient pad 70. By way of anotherexample, terminal edge 32 of channel 16 may be downwardly beveled at theangle assumed by the clapper when it is in contact with such edgethereby increasing the contact from line to area or surface contact. Byway of further illustration of modifications which are possi' ble withthe present invention, it may be desirable to utilize a material for theclapper which is different from the material used for shell 12.

What is claimed is: 1. A musical instrument, comprising: a shell, saidshell having a channel portion and a haridle portion, a clapper, saidclapper being hingedly secured to said shell within said channel, saidclapper being hingedly secured by means of at least one hinge pinlocated closer to one end of the clapper than the other end thereof,said hinge pin being located substantially adjacent an inner end of saidchannel in said shell, said clapper being of a length sufficient toextend beyond an outer end of said shell, the channel formed in saidshell being narrower at said outer end, and resilient means beingprovided between said clapper I and said shell to bias said clapper intocontact with said channel. 2. A musical instrument in accordance withclaim 1, wherein:

said clapper is provided with a bifurcated inner end. 3. A musicalinstrument in accordance with claim 2, wherein;

said clapper is hingedly secured by a pair of co-axial hinge pins. 4. Amusical instrument in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said resilient means comprises a resilient pad located at the inner endof said channel.

1. A musical instrument, comprising: a shell, said shell having achannel portion and a handle portion, a clapper, said clapper beinghingedly secured to said shell within said channel, said clapper beinghingedly secured by means of at least one hinge pin located closer toone end of the clapper than the other end thereof, said hinge pin beinglocated substantially adjacent an inner end of said channel in saidshell, said clapper being of a length sufficient to extend beyond anouter end of said shell, the channel formed in said shell being narrowerat said outer end, and resilient means being provided between saidclapper and said shell to bias said clapper into contact with saidchannel.
 2. A musical instrument in accordance with claim 1, wherein:said clapper is provided with a bifurcated inner end.
 3. A musicalinstrument in accordance with claim 2, wherein: said clapper is hingedlysecured by a pair of co-axial hinge pins.
 4. A musical instrument inaccordance with claim 1 wherein: said resilient means comprises aresilient pad located at the inner end of said channel.